Category Archives: Stewart Mills

8th District U.S Rep. Rick Nolan and the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party on Tuesday filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) forming a joint fundraising committee called the Rick Nolan Victory Fund.

Joint fundraising committees consist of two or more candidates, party committees or political action committees. All share in fundraising costs and distribute the proceeds according to a specific formula.

Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McCutcheon v FEC, federal law limited the total amount an individual could give to federal candidates, party committees and political action committees, so these joint fundraising committees were quite limited in scope.

But in McCutcheon, the Court ruled those aggregate contribution caps unconstitutional, opening the door for donors to give to as many candidates and committees as they want and paving the way for so-called ‘super joint’ fundraising committees – those formed for the benefit of many candidates or committees – that can exert pressure on deep-pocketed donors to write big checks.

Under these new rules, an individual is allowed to write a check for as much as $15,400 to the Rick Nolan Victory Fund. But the donor must abide by the maximum contribution limits of $5,400 per election cycle to a candidate and $10,000 per year to a state party committee.

The treasurer of the Rick Nolan Victory Fund is Virginia School Board Member Kim Stokes of Britt, wife of lobbyist and Silicon Energy Vice-President Gary Cerkvenik.

Nolan is facing a strong challenge from Republican Stewart Mills, a rematch of the obscenely expensive 2014 race which Mills lost by just 1.4 percent of the vote.

Friends of Stewart Mills released a new campaign ad Wednesday featuring Aurora steelworker Steve Biondich telling voters “It’s not about Republicans or Democrats any more. It’s about jobs and our way of life. Look past the party, start looking at candidates” – a very effective message for the Iron Range. So effective in fact, that Democrats felt the need to immediately go on the offensive.

But instead of articulating an intelligent response to the ad itself – or challenging Mills – U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and his allies chose to go the cheap and easy route of attacking the Mesabi Range steelworker who appeared in the ad.

The Twin Cities-based CityPages posted “Star of Stewart Mills’s (sic) latest ad has off-color facebook page” early Thursday morning, after they say Biondich’s facebook page was called to their attention by a “tipster.”

Nolan staffers quickly jumped into the social media feeding frenzy that followed, focusing on screenshots that play into the stereotype of Range men, particularly those who work in the mines. Campaign manager Kendal Killian called Biondich “Sexist Steve” and a misogynist, and campaign communications director Sacha Haworth passed along similar tweets. The Breck School graduate also criticized the Range steelworker for thinking that “sexist jokes” are funny:

So, if a voter from the Iron Range who decides to appear in a campaign ad is now considered a “spokesman” and subject to a social media colonoscopy, shouldn’t an official campaign spokesperson from Deephaven undergo similar scrutiny?

Let’s just take a little look at some of Ms. Haworth’s social media postings.

Hmm…this tweet is pretty darn insulting to women:

Maine native Franni Franken might take issue with this one:

Does this indicate that Ms Haworth has reason to associate with a drug dealer?:

Is this really the level of commentary expected from the assistant communications director of a member of Congress?

And then there are the pictures…

What conclusions could one draw about Ms. Haworth if applying the same standards used to judge Mr. Biondich?

The point is that context is important, everyone has a skeleton or two in their closet, everyone says things they shouldn’t (or should have expressed differently) and everyone has said or done something that others will find offensive.

Public officials and those running for office are fair game, but where does one draw the line for this kind of scrutiny?

If attacking and publicly humiliating a supporter becomes an accepted strategy to discredit a candidate, people will flee from the political process in droves. How many would choose to work on behalf of a candidate knowing that everything they have ever said or done in their personal lives will be fodder for opposition research?

Think of the chilling effect on our democracy.

Elections are supposed to be about ideas and articulating a message to voters, not trashing citizens who are actively engaged in the political process. Perhaps it is not the amount of money in politics that is truly corrupting our democracy, but rather what people think they need to do in order to get elected.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan and Republican Stewart Mills disagree on many issues, but building American pipelines with American steel isn’t one of them. Mills said on Monday that using domestic steel for pipelines is “just common sense.”

The national controversy over the source of steel used in pipeline construction was pushed to the forefront in Minnesota on Aug.6 when Mike McFadden, a Republican seeking to unseat U.S. Sen. Al Franken, stated that he supported using unsubsidized foreign steel if it was cheaper than domestic steel. The predicted furor erupted across the Iron Range and threatened to spill over into the race for 8th district congress on Aug.11, when Nolan criticized McFadden’s position as “indefensible” and used it as a springboard to call on Mills to disclose his position on the issue.

“Stewart Mills III is a multi-millionaire with a financial stake in the oil and gas business. He’s also been campaigning with Mike McFadden all over the 8th District. Mills has a vested interest in building cheap pipelines, since it means more money in his pockets. Iron Rangers deserve to know whether he too would choose to import cheap steel from China in order to protect his own wealth.” Nolan said in the statement posted on Facebook.

But Mills supports the use of domestic steel.

“The Iron Range has long been the backbone of our part of Minnesota, and it’s just common sense for me that American pipelines should be built with American steel,” Mills responded in an email

“Miners and their families deserve a strong voice in Washington, but Rick Nolan doesn’t stand for their values. He claims to support American steel and steelworkers, but then turns around and votes against projects like Keystone XL that would benefit them. I’ll always stand up for Iron Range miners and their families”

Nolan and Mills each bring a certain level of expertise to the debate, but from different ends of the pipeline.

Mills’ personal financial disclosure reflects an ownership interest in Crow Wing Oil Company, a privately-held wholesale distributor of oil products. The company does not explore and drill nor process and refine, transport and store oil and gas. It simply purchases and sells end products.

Since Nolan and Mills agree on using domestic steel when building pipelines, they are now free to quibble over who really supports the projects or workers. But another comment in Nolan’s statement grabbed the attention of Iron Rangers and did not go unnoticed by Mills.

“The strongest, safest, most reliable steel in the world is mined and processed by Minnesotans right here on the Iron Range,” said Nolan, prompting Mills to add “Just one final point – I would suggest that Rick read up on the difference between iron and steel (there are no steel mills on the Range, Rick!)”

A low-grade iron ore called taconite is mined and processed on the Iron Range. Steel is an alloy. Northern Minnesota has not produced steel since the early 1970s, when United States Steel closed their steel-making and finishing operations in Duluth.

“The tweets they prefer you wouldn’t see” is how the watchdog Sunlight Foundation describes Politwoops,a project that archives tweets deleted by politicians, and just such a tweet has turned into a headache for 8th district U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan.

The drama began Friday evening when Nolan responded to a tweet by U.S. Rep. Trent Franks criticizing Pres. Obama for statements made during a 2001 interview. “Says Constitution imperfect document reflecting fundamental flaw of the country that continues,” Franks tweeted. Nolan fired back this gem:

Nolan deleted the tweet eight minutes later, but it was captured by Politwoops and caught the attention of Republican challenger Stewart Mills. On Monday morning, the Mills campaign issued a press release calling on Nolan to explain the tweet:

“Rick Nolan needs to explain what exactly he meant when he called the Constitution an imperfect document on Friday,” said Mills. “As a Member of Congress, he took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, but now he’s showing his true colors. For hundreds of years, countless Americans have fought and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life. They stood up to defend not only their country, but their Constitution and all it stands for. The Eighth Congressional District needs someone who will respect the principles our country was founded on, not someone who thinks that foundation is imperfect.”

Congressman Nolan has not yet issued a statement or responded to our request for comment. But City Pages reports a Nolan source suggested the tweet may have been deleted because it contained a spelling error or was made by an unauthorized user.

This deleted tweet containing mistakes and reeking with attitude created a furor, but previous tweets that were not deleted raised a few eyebrows for similar reasons. For example:

Nolan repeated a media spelling error and didn’t recognize that ‘piece meal’ is one word:

Nolan is responsible for all of his official communications. The Sunlight Foundation created Politwoops to hold politicians accountible for their public statements and accountibility is indeed the issue here.

This story will be updated if Rep. Nolan responds to our request for comment.

Republican Stewart Mills III of Nisswa has secured endorsements from 16 Republican members of the Minnesota Legislature in his bid for the 8th district congressional seat held by DFL Rep. Rick Nolan of Crosby, his campaign announced Wednesday. This list includes every Republican state representative or state senator whose district encompasses a portion of the 8th congressional district.*

Nine of the legislators endorsing Mills reside in the 8th congressional district:

Joining the legislators of the 8th congressional district in endorsing Mills is Rep. Tom Hackbarth of Cedar. Hackbarth’s district is contained within the boundaries of 6th congressional district, but his hometown of Anoka was part of the Fighting 8th during the 1970’s.

In a prepared statement released by the Friends of Stewart Mills, Ruud said that Mills “fits our district,” while Minority Leader Daudt emphasized Mills’ status as a state and local business leader:

Stewart Mills has been an integral business leader in our district and across the state of Minnesota for many years. His leadership and problem solving ability will be a greatly needed addition to Washington.

Mills,41, announced a formal challenge to Nolan, 69, earlier this month and garnered national attention for significantly outraising the incumbent in his first quarter of fundraising. These endorsements from every Republican legislator who represents a portion of the 8th district indicate strong support for his campaign from within the party and are the first to come from Minnesotans. Mills’ only other endorsement in the race comes from former 8th District Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack, who previously issued a statement of support in a fundraising email sent to supporters.

Nolan defeated Cravaack in one of the most hotly contested and expensive congressional races of 2012.The district remains competitive and the 2014 congressional race is once again expected to attract millions in outside spending. Both the Rothenberg Political Report and the Cook Political Report currently rate the district as a ‘Lean Democrat.”

*ICFP noted that Rep. Tom Dettmer was the only Republican legislator representing part of the 8th district who was not included in Mills’ press release. Dettmer could not be reached for comment, but a spokesperson for Friends of Stewart Mills stated that Dettmer had indeed endorsed Mills but was inadvertently omitted from the list.

Republican Stewart Mills III of Nisswa formally declared his candidacy for 8th district congress just last week, but came out strong Tuesday, releasing a third quarter fundraising report reflecting contributions nearly double the amount raised by DFL Rep. Rick Nolan of Crosby. Mills raised $243,826 for his bid to unseat the incumbant, while Nolan posted receipts of just $129,472, falling short of his second quarter total of $134,764 despite a strong last minute push from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Steve Israel and the DCCC just before the fundraising deadline of Sep. 30.

Nolan received slightly more unitemized individual contributions, reporting $19,497 to Mills’ $19,198, but Mills trounced Nolan in itemized individual contributions, both in number of donors and in dollar amounts. Mills racked up contributions of $218,128 compared to just $48,075 for Nolan. Analysis of individual contributions reveals that Mills raised more money from inside the 8th district, while Nolan raised the bulk of his money from donors outside Minnesota. The breakdown is as follows:

Nolan’s largest individual donation this quarter came from Bridge Capital CEO John Baldwin of Hayden Lake, Idaho, who contributed the $5200 maximum allowable contribution for the election cycle. In Minnesota, Nolan’s top individual contributors this quarter were Minneapolis lobbyist Jim Erickson, who donated an additional $3950 to max out his contribution to the campaign, and Tofte Management CEO Dennis Rysdal of Schroeder who contributed $2000.

Mills’ report is remarkable in that his largest contributors from inside and outside the 8th district all donated the maximum allowable for the election cycle. Out-of-district donors are David Copham of Fort Myers, Fla.; Ruthann & Thomas Hall of Green Bay, Wis., Sandra Mills of Menasha, Wis.; Travis Mills of Vail, Colo.; Jeff Olcott of Wausau, Wis.; Guy & Karen Smith of Black Creek, Wis; Mark & Shannon Evenstad of Wayzata, Minn; and Robert Ulrich of Edina, Minn. Residents of the 8th district who donated the maximum allowable are Dennis Frandsen of North Branch, Arnold & Joann Johnson of Lake Shore, Heather Mills of Nisswa, and Marissa Mae & Stewart Mills Jr of Brainerd. Candidate Mills also contributed $5200, but under FEC rules is not bound by contribution limits

Donations from political committees/PACs separate the challenger from the incumbent, and here Nolan handily outraised Mills. Mills received contributions totaling only $6,500 from just two organizations, but Nolan raised $61,00 from 33 different political committees, with $26,900 of those donations coming from PACs affiliated with labor. Mills’ top contributor was the Cravaack for Congress Campaign Committee, which donated $4000, the maximum allowable contribution for an authorized political committee. Nolan’s largest contributions this quarter came from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which donated $10,000,the maximum allowable for multicandidate PACs, and from the American Crystal Sugar Corporation, which donated an additional $5000 to max out its contribution to Nolan.

Rep. Nolan does have a slight edge over his challenger in cash on hand, reporting $261,00 to Mills’ $234,443.

This is Stewart Mills’ first quarter of fundraising, yet he raised just $174,631 less than Rep. Nolan raised this election cycle- to-date. The breakdown is as follows

Individual Contributions
Mills $243,826
Nolan $147,092

Political Committee Contributions
Mills $6500
Nolan $271,365

The 2012 8th district congressional race was one of the most expensive in the nation and attracted over $9 million in outside spending. Nolan never excelled at fundraising and raised significantly less than Tarryl Clark or Chip Cravaack, yet defeated his well-funded opponents in both the primary and general elections. It is too early to tell how the congressman’s self-imposed limit on time spent fundraising will impact his bid for re-election. But outside groups are already targeting Nolan in radio and TV ads, so the 2014 race is sure to exceed $10 million in outside spending. And the NRCC is certainly impressed with Mills: he’s number one on the list of 5 Republican House Candidates Who Are Outraising Democrat Members Of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan of Crosby now has a formal challenger in the 2014 race for 8th District Congress. Mills Fleet Farm Vice President Stewart Mills III of Nisswa made that announcement Thursday at events in Cloquet and Rush City.

Mills said the following in a prepared statement:

I have seen first-hand how overreaching government policies affect Minnesota families. I’m running for Congress because I want to roll up my sleeves and make sure that our government is working for us, not stifling our local job creators and the American dream.

The current government shutdown and impasse in Congress is the perfect example of why Washington needs fresh voices and perspectives to move our country forward. Our government needs to work harder to make sure that no matter what the disagreement, our social contracts are being met, like those to our seniors and veterans. This partisan squabbling is unacceptable.

Mills launched his formal bid to unseat the DFL incumbent at businesses near the Duluth and Twin Cities media that cover the sprawling 8th congressional district, but Friends of Stewart Mills campaign coordinator Isaac Shultz was quick to point out that Mills has recently been to Hoyt Lakes and other cities on the Range.

“Mills enjoyed his visits to the Iron Range and looks forward to going back up there soon,” Schultz said, adding “he’s excited about the opportunities that PolyMet and Twin Metals offer to Rangers and wants to be of assistance in any way he can.”

DFL Party Chair Ken Martin released a statement Thursday blasting Mills as being out of touch with “Minnesotans” and “utterly unqualified to take on the job of U.S. Congressman”:

In announcing he is running for Congress, Stewart Mills III lined up with the extreme Republicans who put thousands of Americans out of work with their senseless government shutdown. Mills III is another Tea Party extremist who would rather hold our nation’s economy hostage to promote a radical agenda rather than solve problems to grow the middle class.

You only get one time to make a first impression, and out of the gate Mills III demonstrated just how out of touch he is with Minnesotans. The last thing Washington needs is another hyper-partisan, uncompromising Tea Partier like Michele Bachmann or Ted Cruz who is long on rhetoric and short on substance. It’s obvious that he is utterly unqualified to take on the job of U.S. Congressman and that he represents exactly what this country is running away from.

Schultz had this to say in response to Martin’s harsh statement:

Stewart Mills is focused on reaching out to voters and discussing the stunning failure of partisan leaders in Washington DC. Instead of reaching commonsense solutions that help grow our economy and reduce the burden of government on working families, Washington insiders are bickering over partisan ideologies.